One piece industrial wheel



June 15, 1965 w. J. cosMos ONE PIECE INDUSTRIAL WHEEL 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 25. 1961 INVENTOR. ZW Z/a'awz J 605m 05.

June 15, 1965 w. J. cosMos 3,18

ONE PIECE INDUSTRIAL WHEEL Filed Sept. 25. 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 54 VENTOR. M/zkw fiamaa 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 1 9 2 i; f w

W. J. COSMOS ONE PIECE INDUSTRIAL WHEEL June 15, 1965 Filed Sept. 25. 1961 United States Patent 3,188,775 ONE RIECE INDUSTRIAL Wl-EEL William I. Cosmos, Mundelein, Ill. Filed Sept. 25, 1961, Ser. No. 140,535 4 Claims. (Cl. 51-141) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial Number 698,669, filed November 25, 1957, now Patent No. 3,079,645, dated March 5, 1963.

The invention relates to improvements in industrial wheel units, and more particularly to high speed contact wheels and expansible sleeve holders for grinding and polishing machines employing revolvable abrasive coated belts or sleeves, and industrial roll sections. In the use of a high speed contact wheel or sleeve holder, an abrasive coated belt or sleeve is trained over such wheels which are revolved at a high speed, and the belt or sleeve is effectively supported thereby for the presentation of the work thereto. Such wheels, as well as wheel units and roll sections, have a resiliently yieldable rim or working periphery, which, in some applications is smooth surfaced, and in other instances is treated to accommodate variations in a belt or sleeve trained thereover, and/or in the work presented thereto, to facilitate cooling and to prevent premature wearing of the belt or sleeve, and marring, marking or multilation of the work, to make the wheel more or less aggressive, and to provide firm binding of the belt or sleeve over the wheel while it is in rotation.

Industrial wheels of this general character are operated at high speeds, usually in excess of fifteen hundred revolutions per minute (1,500 r.p.m.), and they comprise, generally, a mounting hub and a concentric band forming a peripheral surface connected to the hub by a circular body area. More specifically, one example of a prior type of wheel structure has the hub, a central body area and a peripheral band formed as a unit, as by casting; the band thereof extending in opposed directions on each side of the body area. The resiliently yieldable rim is wrapped around and bonded to the outside circumferential face of said band. The rim, if smooth surfaced, has its working surface milled or otherwise formed in any conventional manner with circumferential, circumferentially inclined, and/ or laterally directed channels, grooves or slots, so as to provide its peripheral working surface with a multiplicity of ribs, lands or islands, each having the requisite resiliency and yieldability to function for its intended purpose. The working surface is then dressed so as to insure uniformity of diameter and dynamic balance.

The construction of such known types of industrial wheel structures involves an excessive amount of costly labor and time, and it i therefore, an object of the invention to provide a novelly constructed inexpensive industrial wheel structure of the character hereinafter referred to.

Industrial wheel structures of known types tend to wobble to some degree, particularly when used singly, while operating with a high power output, primarily because of the inherent resiliency of the stock comprising the central body area, worn or bent arbors, or other factors of dynamic unbalance. Such wobbling causes lateral shifting of a belt or sleeve trained over the wheel, and furthermore, there is sound generation, uneven wear on the sleeve. belt, arbor or the wheel unit itself, and the danger of wheel explosion is great. It is therefore another object of the invention to provide a wheel structure with novel means to prevent such wobbling.

During high speed operation of a wheel, the bonded resiliently yieldable peripheral band and rim are subjected to tremendous centrifugal forces which tend to expand the band and rim outwardly radially, and hould the bonding be inadequate or should there be air pockets in the band ice or rim material, the said band or rim is liable to become ruptured and disintegrate, in which event serious injury may result to the operator and the machine damaged. The present construction of the wheel structures herein disclosed is such that the rim is integral with a central circular area comprised of a body of the same'material that is held between and bonded to the opposed faces of rigid discs, and consequently is so reinforced as to withstand the damaging influences of the centrifugal forces generated during use, and in fact the action of wheels embodying the herein disclosed structure is enhanced by such centrifugal forces. It is therefore anotherobject to provide a wheel structure of the character described with novel means to prevent disintegration by reason of centrifugal forces, and the action of which is enhanced by such centrifugal forces.

Expansible sleeve holders or wheels may havetheir peripheral rim area slotted to afford maximum expansion to insure firm gripping of the abrasive sleeve fitted thereover, or they may be fabricated in a manner to afford an unbroken resilient rim spaced from and connected to the body by a series of mutually spaced substantially radially arranged ribs or webs of substantial thickness adapted to flex under load and to expand radially outwardly during rotation of the wheel at high speeds. Such holders afford maximum resiliency when subjected to load pressure and insure tight gripping of the abrasive sleeve to prevent lateral and circumferential shifting of the sleeve.

It is therefore another object of the invention to provide a novelly constructed expansible sleeve holder.

Another object is to provide a novel sectionalized industrial roller.

With the foregoing and other objects and advantages in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in whch the same characters of reference are employed to indicate corresponding or similar parts throughout the several figures of the draw- 1ngs:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of an expansible sleeve holder, without the abrasive sleeve fitted thereover.

FIGURE 2 is a diametrical sectional view of the wheel. taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1 also omitting the sleeve.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the holder and sleeve, showing it in operation and with a work piece applied thereto.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary central sectional view of an exemplary mold in which the wheel shown in FIG- URE l is formed.

FIGURE 5 is a peripheral view of a segmental contact wheel, showing parts in section.

FIGURE 6 is a peripheral view partly in section showing a modified form of expansible sleeve holder.

FIGURE 7 is a peripheral view of a representative industrial roller comprised of representative removable and interchangeable wheel units embodying the invention.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary diametrical sectional view of another type of contact wheel unit.

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view of a contact wheel showing a belt trained thereover.

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged edge View of the wheel shown in FIGURE 9, with parts broken away to illustrate details of construction.

view of the peripheral working surface of thewheel shown in FIGURE 9, showing adjacent wheel units separated view of the wheel prior to being placed in tight abutment onev with the j other. t r The high'speed expansible sleeve holders or wheels, contact wheels and wheel units disclosed herein are made by pressure molding in a heated die assembly. Each com prises essentially, a pair of rigid discs which are seated in an open die and which have a mass of unvulcanized "rubber, natural or synthetic, of predetermined volume placed therebetween. The dies of the mold assembly include hub cavities and a rim forming cavity into which some of the mass of rubber is extruded when the dies are -rnoved toward one another (usuallyat a pressure of approximately two thousand pounds (2,000 lbs.) per square inch). i I

During such extruding of some of the mass of rubber into the rim cavities and the 'hub cavities, the remaining unvulcanized rubber is distributed evenly between the discs at a thickness determined bythe setting of the dies of the mold assembly, i.e. if a thick body of rubber is re-' quired between the discs, the dies will be set farther apart from one another than if a thinner body-of rubber is required between the discs.

In instances where a tread or'land forming configuration, such as the tread shown in FIGURE or webs of the, kind shownin FIGURE 1, is desired, therim cavity will be surfaced to form such configurations as maybe desired. The configurations may be diagonal, cross, herringbone or other serration patterns, and they may lie fully or partially across the surface of the Wheels or holders or through the rim portions thereof.

In the event that no means are provided to permit the flow of the unvulcanizedrnb-ber under pressure into the hub cavities during the'molding operation, as byproviding openings in the discs adjacent the "hub cavities areas through which the 'unvulcanized rubber may flow under molding pressure, separate hub forming pieces of 'unvulcanized rubber, which may be in the form of unvult canized rubber doughnuts or the like, are arranged in the said hub cavities prior to placing the. discs in the dies.

ing said opening. The discs. 11 are maintained in spaced relation one to the other by a layer of rubber 14 of predetermined thickness therebetween and their peripher- :al margins llaare embedded in a band forming body of rubber, generally indicated at 15, that is integral with the layer 14. Body .15 is substantially thicker than the thickness of the laminatedcentral circular area and it includes an inner band area 15:! adjacent the discs periphcries, and a peripheral rim 15b connected'to area 15w by illustrated in FIGURE 3.

circumferentially spaced webs 150 that extend radially angularly in a common circumferential direction. This webbed structure,-including peripheral rim 1517, will expand outwardly during wheel rotation sutiiciently to cause 7 the rim ISbto grip abrasive sleeve 16 firmly and still afford sufficient resiliency to permit the wheel periphery and sleeve to give under the load of applied work, as Depending on .the thickness 1 of rim 15 12, the wheel canbe made more or less aggresi sive.y If rim 15b is relatively thin, after the wheel is dressed as described previously, a series of lateral parallel ridges are formed on the circumferentialsurface of the rim. The thinnerthe rim, the more apparent are the ridges, and the contour. of the ridges is transmitted through I the 'belt' or sleeve to'create a slapping action against the work, and thereby make the wheel more aggressive.

' Discs 11 and the rubber layer 14 bonded'therebetween, constitute the central circular area or core of the expansi ble sleeve holder and because of the increased thickness afforded 'saidvco're by the presence of layer 14 and the fact that said layer is bonded to both discs, said core resists distortionfwhile the wheel is in use and accordingly avoids wobble so often present in wheels constructed in acordance with prior known practices.

Hub portions 17, disposed onthe outside faces of discs '11, perferably; are integral with the layer 14 of rubber between the discs. This is accomplished during the molding of the wheel by flow forcing some of the rubber mass through the circumfereutially spaced openings 13 in the discs to'fill the cavities provided for. such hub portions in the mold. The hub portions are bonded to the discs duringthe pressurized vulcanising operation previously referred to. g 1

, FIGURE 5 discloses a wide faced contact wheel assembly comprised, in this instance, of three like wheel units 18 each responding substantially to the basic structure of r the expansible sleeve holder shown in FIGURE 1... Each After the discs have been inse'rtedin the mold with the unvulcaniz ed rubber set' therebetween, and the-forming dies, including those for providing any surface or rim configuration and hub portion, desired, suitably set, the dies are brought under pressure toward one another, and

at the same time, while the whole assembly is in the mold,

dressing required is nominal and is for the purpose of; obtaininga dynamicbalance in the wheel, and for re moving the central circumferential area of the peripheral wheel unit 18 is comprised of a pair of discs 19 which,

7 in this, embodiment, have oppositely disposed peripheral flanges 21. A layer of rubber 22 is interposed between and bonded to discs 19. The Wheel is formed by'pressure molding as previously described and has a rim 23 integral with rubber layer 22 and bonded to flanges 21, which rim is treaded during the molding operation or subsequnetly. Although the tread may be of any type best suited for the particular use to which the wheel is to be put, the tread ,is cornprised of. a series of mutually work surface of the rim which bulges-outwardly at the circumferential center during high speed rotation owing to applied centrifugal forces. The dressed wheel structure, when idle, will therefore havea slightly concave surface, laterally, which surface'assumes a flat condition on rotation of the wheel at Working speeds.

Referring particularly to the expansible' sleeve holder illustrated in FIGURES 1 to, 4, inclusive, said'holder comprises a pair of rigid circular plates 11 fabricated by stamping from heavy gu'agesheet' metal stock, orotherwise. V series of circumferentially. spaced apertures 13. surroundspaced ribs 24, having interposed channels or grooves 25, 7

extending at an angle relative to the wheel circumference. Hub portions 26 may be integrally bonded to the rubber layer 22 as taught inthe FIGURE 2 disclosure, 'or they may be separate bodies bonded, as shown, to the-outside faces of the discs. .The central circular area or web formed by discs 19 and the interposed layer 22 is, in this instance, considerably thinner than the complemnetal portion of the wheel shownin FIGURE 2 because the tight face-'to-face abutment of the wheel units 'aifordssufiicient rigidity to prevent any tendency for the wheel assembly to- Wobble.

FIGURE 6 illustrates another type of expansible sleeve holder. This holder or wheel'is fabricated like the wheel unit shown in FIGURE 5,. but because of its thick central circular area or 'web, comprised of peripherally flanged Each plate or disc has an axial 'opening'12'and a discs 27 and the intermediate layer 28 of rubber bonded thereto, no hub portionsare, shown although they may, I

of course, be provided. The peripheral rim area 29 is integral with layer 28 and has a series of circumferentially spaced radial slots 31 in its peripheral surface that are inclined in a common circumferential direction adapting the rim to expand radially during rotation so as to bind an abrasive sleeve 32 thereon.

FIGURE 7 shows an industrial roll 33 composed of several like interchangeable and replaceable roller units 34, each of which is fabricated in the manner as the wheels hereinabove described. Each unit includes a thin rubber layer 35 bonded between flanged discs 36 and integral with its peripheral body or rim 37. These roll units may be smooth surfaced or they may be treaded as required, and each has resilient hub portions 38 thereon. FIGURE 8 illustrates a representative form of contact wheel having discs 39 which are devoid of peripheral flanges and have their peripheral edges embedded in and bonded to the resiliently yieldable rim forming body 41, as at 42, in the manner of the expansible sleeve holder shown in FIGURE 1. Hub portions 43 may be separate resilient members bonded to the outside faces of discs 39, as shown, or they may be formed in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 2.

- Referring to FIGURES 9 through 13, the contact wh'eel assembly 111 is adapted to have trained thereover a coated abrasive belt 112. The sectional contact wheel 111 is composed of a plurality of wheel units or sections 113, similar to the sections shown in FIGURES 5 and 7, depending on the width of the belt 112. The wheel units 113, rotatable with spindle 117, are nested together face to face, and each comprises a resiliently yieldable tire rim 114 integral with the disc assembly 115, having a resiliently yieldable hub 116 on each face thereof. The discs 115a are placed face to face in the mold with the moldable material therebetween, as described, squeezed together with the disc flanges 118 extending outwardly away from one another. The mold is spaced so that only enough material to bond the discs is left therebetween and each resilient hub 116 has a thickness slightly greater than the width of the flange 118. When the units are assembled and the mounting nut 119 tightened, the hubs 116 are compressed to secure the units firmly on the shaft even if the shaft is worn, and in close association with each other. The hubs 116 tend to expand in response to absorption of heat generated during wheel operation and the forces applied upon them so as to always insure a tight wobble-free mounting and accurate spacing of the discs assemblies. Also, because of the flexible bonding of the discs, the wheels run truer and in better balance under work pressure and centrifugal forces.

The working rim 114 on each wheel unit 113 is slightly wider than the combined width of flanges 118 and are formed with novel transverse traction ribs, the presence of which provides deep, spaced grooves or channels which allow for ventilation and the dissipation of much of the heat of operation of the wheel, so that adjacent wheel units cooperate one with the other to present relative slippage or creeping between the units. More specifically, the rim 114 includes base portion 121 and extending radially outwardly mutually spaced substantially laterally extending ribs 122, separated by channels 123, which are parallel to each other, and are disposed at an angle to the axis of the wheel unit; and the side faces 124, which are inclined outwardly radially from the base portion as to present a peripheral working surface that is wider than the base portion 121. When two or more wheel units are mounted on a shaft and are brought tightly together, face to face, with the ribs on adjacent units in registering alignment, as shown in FIGURE 10, lateral compression of the ribs brings the opposed side faces of the base portions into tight abutment to insure a wobblefree assembly. Because of this rib compression, when centrifugal forces are applied during high speed rotation of the wheel, the joint between the ribs of adjacent wheel units will not open and radial expansion of the rim is adequately compensated for by the increased density of the slightly compressed ribs. As a result of the operation of the centrifugal forces and work piece pressures on the compressed ribs, the assembled wheel will not present a series of grooves or channels, which cause noise, marking of the work and damage to the belt, between the wheel units thereof while in operation.

An expansible sleeve holder, a contact wheel or wheel or roller unit made according to the teachings herein disclosed will have a longer wearing life and will not wobble or become dynamically unbalanced during high speed working operations thereof. When such holders or wheels or units are rotated at the high speeds required for eflicient use, the centrifugal forces acting on the rim can be controlled and is transmitted throughout the entire body of the integral layer of rubber between the discs. The result is that the radial stress of the forces applied to the rim is substantially absorbed by the flexible bonding between the discs, thus reducing the likelihood of the rim tearing loose from the peripheral discs to which it is also bonded, or exploding. The tearing loose of the rim or such an exploding thereof not only destroys the wheel, but also may injure the operator or machine, particularly during high speed operation thereof.

Furthermore, the tensioning of the rubber layer between the discs to which it is bonded, in response to centrifugal forces and work pressure loads, not only reduces the inherent flexibility of the central circular area, but it also exerts a lateral force inwardly on each disc so as to increase the rigidity of the said discs and thereby eliminate all tendency of the wheel to wobble.

A wheel embodying the herein described structure will operate efficiently during its entire life without damage to the arbor, and can be operated efl'iciently even when it is mounted on arbor having wear areas or minor bends. This is because the weightiest portion of the herein described wheel is at the rim, whereas the weightiest portion of prior known whcls was inward of the rim at the hub or web, and because the construction of the herein described wheel includes a resiliently yieldable lamination inwardly of the rim, so that the lamination portion will stretch outwardly radially under centrifugal forces, and the bond and weight of the hub and/ or web portions will not prevent such expansion. The result is that a wheel embodying the present invention will retain its dynamic balance, irrespective of wear spots and bends on the arbor which would prevent efficient operation of solid rigid hub or solid rigid web types of wheels, and that this wheel will run truer at increasingly higher speeds.

Although rubber, natural or synthetic, is suggested herein as the material best suited for the fabrication of the band and rim areas and the web layer integral therewith, other elastic or resiliently compressible moldable material capable of tight bonding to metal may be used, and in a wide range of densities for diffrent specific uses.

It is believed that the invention, its mode of construction and assembly, and many of its advantages should be readily understood from the foregoing without further description, and it should also be manifest that while preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described for illustrative purposes, the structural details are nevertheless capable of wide variation within the purview of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Accordingly, I claim the following as my invention:

1. A high speed contact wheel comprised of a resiliently yieldable stress absorbing layer of material having the same size as and arranged between and bonded to a pair of concentric planular discs and a peripheral band of resiliently yieldable material integral with said layer and bonded to the periphery of said discs, said discs having opposed peripheral flanges bonded to said peripheral band.

2. A high speed contact wheel comprising a pair of axially apertured discs fabricated from thin rigid sheet assembly, said resiliently yield-able disc being considerably thicker than the sheet material discs, and a peripheral rim .of resiliently yieldable material integral with the peripheral edge of. said resiliently yieldable disc, said aperture'd 'discs having opposed peripheral flanges bonded to said peripheral rim;

3. A high speed contact wheel comprising a pair. of axially'apertured discs fabricated from rigid sheet material concentrically. arranged and spaced one from the other, an axially apertured disc of resiliently yieldable material arranged between and bonded to opposed faces of said pair of apertured discs to form a unitary'assembly,

flange of lilcem'aterialintegral with said rim and spaced inwardly from each edge, and thin metal discs one bonded to each faceof said flange and each having a peripheral and a peripheral rim of resiliently yieldable material in-" I tegral with the. peripheral edge of said resiliently yield able disc, said a'pertured disc's having opposed peripheral flanges bonded to "said peripheral rim.. 7

4. A high spe'edrcontact wheel comprising a rim of resiliently yieldable material adapted to expand outwardly radially dtiring'high speed rotation, an internal fiangetbonded to said rim, said internalflange having a uniform thickness considerably greater than the thickness of saiddiscs and being adapted to expand outwardly radially with the rim when the wheel is rotated at a high speed.

References Cited by the Examiner LESTER M. SWINQLE, P1-imary Examiner.

lOHN CHRISTIE, JfS PENCE R OYERHOLSER, I v Examiners. 

1. A HIGH SPEED CONTACT WHEEL COMPRISED OF A RESILIENTLY YIELDABLE STRESS ABSORBING LAYER OF MATERIAL HAVING THE SAME SIZE AS AND ARRANGED BETWEEN AND BONDED TO A PAIR OF CONCENTRIC PLANULAR DISCS AND A PERIPHERAL BAND OF RESILIENTLY YIELDABLE MATERIAL INTEGRALWITH SAID LAYER AND BONDED TO THE PERIPHERY OF SAID DISCS, SAID DISCS HAVING OPPOSED PERIPHERAL FLANGES BONDED TO SAID PERIPHERAL BAND. 